Within five years, the Kentucky Lottery hopes 600 to 700 retailers across the state will provide the game, netting an additional $30 million annually for the state.

Some have raised concerns about keno’s feeding gambling addictions. Supporters have said no evidence shows keno in other states has worsened gambling addiction, but evidence does show it has produced a growing amount of revenue.

Representatives for the Kentucky Lottery this month started going to restaurants, bowling alleys and stores to recruit keno retailers.

Hofbrauhaus manager John Ellison said he hasn’t made up his mind yet about bringing keno to his Newport restaurant. “With things like that, you wonder when they go up on the walls, you don’t know how they will look,” Ellison said.

Those who offer keno will have a 42-inch screen that will display the numbers, while each player will get a ticket similar to regular lottery tickets. Most retailers will have one keno screen, but some might have multiple screens. Payouts can range up to $100,000, but most are $600 or less, lottery official said.

In about a year, the lottery expects about 400 Kentucky retailers will have keno. Those who offer it will get the same cut as people who offer traditional lottery games: a 5 percent commission on sales and 1 percent of all prizes paid out.

Keno will expand the lottery’s reach by being available outside the traditional lottery retailers – convenience and grocery stores. While convenience stores can offer keno, the continuous drawings every five minutes make it conducive for places where people sit down and socialize, said Arch Gleason, president of the Kentucky Lottery. Large grocery stores likely won’t have a place for people to play keno, he said.

“In most of the states that offer keno, half of the retailers of keno are traditional lottery retailers ... and the other half are what is characterized as a social environment – restaurants and bowling alleys.”

Opponents concerned about more 'Robin Hood in reverse'

The extended nature of keno and its placement where people are drinking and socializing have raised concerns among some lawmakers and anti-gambling organizations.

“If we’ve been to a fundraiser where alcohol is being served and a fundraiser where alcohol is not being served, you’ve got to notice a difference,” said state Sen. Bob Leeper, I-Paducah, at a recent meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations, which he co-chairs. “I don’t ever bid at the ones where alcohol is being served, because I can’t bid that high, but I go to the other one looking for a bargain, because people have sense still.”

Leeper said he sees keno in bars as similar to drunken auctions.

“When you have people consuming alcohol in a social situation, they’re going to make mistakes that they’ll regret tomorrow” Leeper said. “My problem is, as a member of the General Assembly, it appears to me that the state is getting ready to sanction that, and that bothers me.”

The Family Foundation, a Lexington-based conservative group, doesn’t support keno but also doesn’t have plans to challenge its implementation, said Kent Ostrander, the group’s executive director. Keno, like other lottery games, takes money from the poor who play it and is “Robin Hood in reverse,” Ostrander said.

“It’s just another numbers game where the patron will always lose in the long run,” Ostrander said.

Lottery officials, however, said that no evidence in other states shows keno adds to problem gambling. “We’ve weighted this issue for a long period of time,” Gleason said. “It’s become a really well-accepted game across the country.”

Impact on state budget small, but $30 million would help

Keno won’t make a big dent in the state budget. The projected $30 million in net keno revenue in five years would account for only about 15 percent of the $200 million-plus the lottery has brought in for the past several years.

Whether the Kentucky General Assembly uses keno for the same purpose or something else remains to be determined, Rand said.

“Now the lottery proceeds go to KEES scholarships,” Rand said. “Some of the other needs-based scholarships have never had money to meet all the needs. We’ll have to take a look at that and how we might fund that going forward.”

State Rep. Arnold Simpson, D-Covington, said he also thinks keno can help the state.

“We have multiple venues for gaming already, and this is but another,” Simpson said. “We are in desperate need for revenue to ensure we provide the safety net and other elements of government to move the state forward.”

In Ohio, keno sales reached $250 million in the previous fiscal year, netting $62 million for the state’s K-12 education system. That’s up from $120 million three years earlier. Total lottery sales in Ohio reached $2.6 billion for the last fiscal year.

Ohio began offering keno in 2008 in bars and restaurants with liquor licenses, and the number of venues has increased since, said Marie Kilbane, spokeswoman for the Ohio Lottery. In April 2012, the state began allowing keno in all of its 9,400 retailers, including convenience stores.

“It’s good overall for the lottery,” Kilbane said. “It is one of the games that’s been in a definite growing phase.”

The business community has reserved judgment. Representatives with the Kentucky Restaurant Association and Northern Kentucky Restaurant Association said many restaurants in Kentucky haven’t heard much about keno, and the interest level remains unknown.

“It is having $30 million however they want to spend,” Gleason said. “Today under the statute, if no changes are made, that money will be invested in scholarships, but that’s a call for the General Assembly. From an economic standpoint, it is investing in youth and a better prepared workforce. It’s a valuable expenditure.” ⬛

I cover how the actions of Congress and the General Assembly impact you. Read my blog at cincinnati.com/blogs/ nkypolitics or reach me at swartman@nky.com